34 ICSA TODAY
Pilgrimage to Welsh Mountain to Impart Spiritual
Energy
Dozens of members of The Aetherius Society, who believe Jesus
and other historical figures including Buddha, Krishna, Confucius,
and Laozi were aliens, will climb Carnedd Llewelyn in Wales this
summer to transmit spiritual energy from a mountain they say
is packed with Martian power. Society members think 19 global
peaks were charged with alien energy after London cabbie
George King was ordered by “cosmic intelligence” in 1954 to
climb them.
Group secretary Richard Lawrence said, “The purpose of going
up is to send out spiritual energy for world peace and to pray for
the betterment of humanity. … He explains that King climbed 18
of the 19 peaks specified, and that on each ascent “…was zapped
by ETs.” Richard has “…been on 10 of the mountains around the
world. I have always experienced a burst of energy on them. The
climbs are quite demanding … at the top we raise our hands and
join in prayer.”
Richard said The Aetherius Society believes Jesus and Buddha
were from Venus but Krishna was from Saturn—the “most
advanced planet,” and that all the “great religions” are from one
“cosmic source.” The Society believes that these “advanced beings
[were] coming to help us and give certain teachings in some
cases … to help humanity without interfering with us too much.”
The Society believes a messiah will one day visit earth in a flying
saucer. Richard said his religion might not be everyone’s thing:
“It’s unusual, is it not?” (Contacts With the Gods From Space, by
George King and Richard Lawrence, is published by The Aetherius
Society.) (Wales Online, 5/25/14)
Catholics Say We Need More Exorcists
The decline of religious belief in the West and the growth of
secularism have “opened the window” to black magic, Satanism,
and belief in the occult, the organizers of a 6-day conference
in Rome on exorcism have said. The meeting aimed to train
about two hundred Roman Catholic priests from more than
thirty countries in how to cast out evil from people who believe
themselves to be in thrall to the Devil. The conference, Exorcism
and Prayers of Liberation, also attracted psychiatrists, sociologists,
doctors, and criminologists in what the Church called a “multi-
disciplinary” approach to exorcisms. About 250 priests have
been trained as exorcists in Italy, but many more are needed,
conference organizers claimed.
Giuseppe Ferrari, from GRIS, a Catholic research group that
organized the conference, said there was an ever-growing need
for priests to be trained to perform exorcisms because of the
increasing number of lay people tempted to dabble in black
magic, paganism, and the occult. “We live in a disenchanted
society, a secularised world … where religion is being thrown
out….” The abandonment of religion “inevitably leads people to
ask questions about the existence of evil and its origins.”
“Just in the dioceses of Rome, around a third of calls that are
received are requests for the services of an exorcist,” said Fr. Cesar
Truqui, a priest and exorcist from Switzerland and a member of
the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative Catholic order. The
Church tries to play down the more lurid associations often made
with exorcism but at the same time insists that the Devil exists
and must be fought daily. “Exploring the theme of demonic
possession does not mean causing general paranoia, but creating
awareness of the existence of the Devil and of the possibility of
possession,” Fr. Truqui told Vatican Radio.
Pope Francis has frequently alluded to the Devil in his homilies
and addresses since being elected to succeed Benedict XVI
last March. In a recent homily, he said the Devil was behind the
persecution of early Christian martyrs, who were murdered for
their faith. The “struggle between God and the Devil” was constant
and ongoing, he said. (The Telegraph, 5/8/14)
The Family’s “Living God” Fades to Grey, Estate Remains
Although she can walk and talk, according to former cult
members, Anne Hamilton-Byrne, Australia’s most notorious
cult leader, doesn’t talk much, and her once-plentiful assets
and properties are being sold, transferred, or given away. At 84,
Hamilton-Byrne is frail and isolated, cared for inside the dementia-
care wing at Centennial Lodge nursing home at Wantirna South,
a long way from the messianic figure who ruled The Family in
Melbourne through three decades from the 1960s.
Cult member Stevenson-Helmer, who is related to former
governor-general and prominent Melburnian Sir Zelman Cowen,
is poised to lead what is left of the cult, together with Geoff
Dawes, the son of former senior cult member Leon Dawes and
former cult “aunty” Helen Buchanan. Stevenson-Helmer saw
Hamilton-Byrne recently and said she was “stable” and that
“it is always wonderful to be with her.” He claims not to know
anything about her assets. Dawes and a fellow cult member from
Gembrook, Helen McCoy, a wildlife campaigner and principal of
a school in Wheelers Hill for disabled children, control Hamilton-
Byrne’s affairs. (The Age, 5/17/14)
Dispute Over Legal Fees Prolongs Polygamy Custody
Case
What is being called a landmark custody case isn’t over yet for
Lorin Holm, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), who in March won legal
custody of his nine minor children from his former wives Lynda
Peine and Patricia Peine, active polygamists and current FLDS
members. Under Utah code 30-3-3, paragraph 1, which states
that in a child-custody case the court may order one party to pay
the other party’s legal fees if there is a financial need, regardless
of who wins the case, Holm now faces the potential of paying his
ex-wives’ legal fees of more than $76,000.
News Desk
Pilgrimage to Welsh Mountain to Impart Spiritual
Energy
Dozens of members of The Aetherius Society, who believe Jesus
and other historical figures including Buddha, Krishna, Confucius,
and Laozi were aliens, will climb Carnedd Llewelyn in Wales this
summer to transmit spiritual energy from a mountain they say
is packed with Martian power. Society members think 19 global
peaks were charged with alien energy after London cabbie
George King was ordered by “cosmic intelligence” in 1954 to
climb them.
Group secretary Richard Lawrence said, “The purpose of going
up is to send out spiritual energy for world peace and to pray for
the betterment of humanity. … He explains that King climbed 18
of the 19 peaks specified, and that on each ascent “…was zapped
by ETs.” Richard has “…been on 10 of the mountains around the
world. I have always experienced a burst of energy on them. The
climbs are quite demanding … at the top we raise our hands and
join in prayer.”
Richard said The Aetherius Society believes Jesus and Buddha
were from Venus but Krishna was from Saturn—the “most
advanced planet,” and that all the “great religions” are from one
“cosmic source.” The Society believes that these “advanced beings
[were] coming to help us and give certain teachings in some
cases … to help humanity without interfering with us too much.”
The Society believes a messiah will one day visit earth in a flying
saucer. Richard said his religion might not be everyone’s thing:
“It’s unusual, is it not?” (Contacts With the Gods From Space, by
George King and Richard Lawrence, is published by The Aetherius
Society.) (Wales Online, 5/25/14)
Catholics Say We Need More Exorcists
The decline of religious belief in the West and the growth of
secularism have “opened the window” to black magic, Satanism,
and belief in the occult, the organizers of a 6-day conference
in Rome on exorcism have said. The meeting aimed to train
about two hundred Roman Catholic priests from more than
thirty countries in how to cast out evil from people who believe
themselves to be in thrall to the Devil. The conference, Exorcism
and Prayers of Liberation, also attracted psychiatrists, sociologists,
doctors, and criminologists in what the Church called a “multi-
disciplinary” approach to exorcisms. About 250 priests have
been trained as exorcists in Italy, but many more are needed,
conference organizers claimed.
Giuseppe Ferrari, from GRIS, a Catholic research group that
organized the conference, said there was an ever-growing need
for priests to be trained to perform exorcisms because of the
increasing number of lay people tempted to dabble in black
magic, paganism, and the occult. “We live in a disenchanted
society, a secularised world … where religion is being thrown
out….” The abandonment of religion “inevitably leads people to
ask questions about the existence of evil and its origins.”
“Just in the dioceses of Rome, around a third of calls that are
received are requests for the services of an exorcist,” said Fr. Cesar
Truqui, a priest and exorcist from Switzerland and a member of
the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative Catholic order. The
Church tries to play down the more lurid associations often made
with exorcism but at the same time insists that the Devil exists
and must be fought daily. “Exploring the theme of demonic
possession does not mean causing general paranoia, but creating
awareness of the existence of the Devil and of the possibility of
possession,” Fr. Truqui told Vatican Radio.
Pope Francis has frequently alluded to the Devil in his homilies
and addresses since being elected to succeed Benedict XVI
last March. In a recent homily, he said the Devil was behind the
persecution of early Christian martyrs, who were murdered for
their faith. The “struggle between God and the Devil” was constant
and ongoing, he said. (The Telegraph, 5/8/14)
The Family’s “Living God” Fades to Grey, Estate Remains
Although she can walk and talk, according to former cult
members, Anne Hamilton-Byrne, Australia’s most notorious
cult leader, doesn’t talk much, and her once-plentiful assets
and properties are being sold, transferred, or given away. At 84,
Hamilton-Byrne is frail and isolated, cared for inside the dementia-
care wing at Centennial Lodge nursing home at Wantirna South,
a long way from the messianic figure who ruled The Family in
Melbourne through three decades from the 1960s.
Cult member Stevenson-Helmer, who is related to former
governor-general and prominent Melburnian Sir Zelman Cowen,
is poised to lead what is left of the cult, together with Geoff
Dawes, the son of former senior cult member Leon Dawes and
former cult “aunty” Helen Buchanan. Stevenson-Helmer saw
Hamilton-Byrne recently and said she was “stable” and that
“it is always wonderful to be with her.” He claims not to know
anything about her assets. Dawes and a fellow cult member from
Gembrook, Helen McCoy, a wildlife campaigner and principal of
a school in Wheelers Hill for disabled children, control Hamilton-
Byrne’s affairs. (The Age, 5/17/14)
Dispute Over Legal Fees Prolongs Polygamy Custody
Case
What is being called a landmark custody case isn’t over yet for
Lorin Holm, a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), who in March won legal
custody of his nine minor children from his former wives Lynda
Peine and Patricia Peine, active polygamists and current FLDS
members. Under Utah code 30-3-3, paragraph 1, which states
that in a child-custody case the court may order one party to pay
the other party’s legal fees if there is a financial need, regardless
of who wins the case, Holm now faces the potential of paying his
ex-wives’ legal fees of more than $76,000.
News Desk
